The Madness of Frogs

[Julius]

The Madness of Frogs

Someone implied that frogs are mad,
but if that’s true I think it’s sad,
although as far as I can see
it’s true they jump quite aimlessly.

So just between both you and me
I thought that I would try to see
whether the claim is really true
that frogs just don’t know what they do.

I sat beside my garden pool
to find a frog I thought a fool.
Then one came out and smiled at me
their mouths are very wide you see.

“Are you mad” I asked of him.
“Maybe perhaps a little dim?”
But he just sat and looked at me,
regarded me quite silently.

I then recalled what Mum had said
and I bent down and kissed his head.
A puff of smoke, a flash of light,
a handsome prince was now in sight.

"Oh Sire" I said "if you don’t mind,
indeed I ask you to be kind,
and speak to me quite openly
about your known insanity."

He scratched his head and thought a bit
and then he spoke these words of wit,
“If you see me then I am glad
it isn’t me, but you, that’s mad!”

[Achebe]

 nice 'un! the denouement was unexpected and fun.
although to be fair, both L5 and the last line should have 'I' instead of 'me'

[Tiger the Lion]

Well done Julius. Any nits are easily kissed away!
Muack,
Paul

[tectak]

The Madness of Frogs


Someone implied that frogs are mad,
But if that’s true I think it’s sad,
Although as far as I can see
It’s true they jump quite aimlessly.


So just between both you and me
I thought that I would try to see
Whether the claim is really true
That frogs just don’t know what they do.


I sat beside my garden pool
To find a frog I thought a fool.
Then one came out and smiled at me,
Their mouth is very wide you see.


“Are you mad?” I asked of him;
“Maybe perhaps a little dim?”
But he just sat and looked at me,
Regarded me quite silently.


I then recalled what Mum had said
And I bent down and kissed his head.
A puff of smoke, a flash of light,
A handsome prince was now in sight.


"Oh Sire" I said "if you don’t mind,
Indeed I ask you to be kind,
And speak to me quite openly
About your known insanity."


He scratched his head and thought a bit
And then he spoke these words of wit
“If you see me then I am glad;
It isn’t me, but you, that’s mad!”

Hi,
I cannot not like this as I ,too, passed through a frog stage with "When frogs Collide" and "When Frogs Confide" a while back.
In terms of crit, I have to ask...why the line caps? It is retro and confusing, adds nothing to the quality of the piece and is more often than not a pseudo-poetic device.
The meter and form of the piece lends itself to the content in the same way that Comic font is good for Children's books...that is a compliment by the way.
"Their mouth..." is wrong. You know why.
The rhymes ARE forced but why not? You want it to rhyme to give it that "once upon a time/ nursery rhyme" feeling" Good.
Best,
tectak

[Julius]

The Madness of Frogs


Someone implied that frogs are mad,
But if that’s true I think it’s sad,
Although as far as I can see
It’s true they jump quite aimlessly.


So just between both you and me
I thought that I would try to see
Whether the claim is really true
That frogs just don’t know what they do.


I sat beside my garden pool
To find a frog I thought a fool.
Then one came out and smiled at me,
Their mouth is very wide you see.


“Are you mad?” I asked of him;
“Maybe perhaps a little dim?”
But he just sat and looked at me,
Regarded me quite silently.


I then recalled what Mum had said
And I bent down and kissed his head.
A puff of smoke, a flash of light,
A handsome prince was now in sight.


"Oh Sire" I said "if you don’t mind,
Indeed I ask you to be kind,
And speak to me quite openly
About your known insanity."


He scratched his head and thought a bit
And then he spoke these words of wit
“If you see me then I am glad;
It isn’t me, but you, that’s mad!”

Hi,
I cannot not like this as I ,too, passed through a frog stage with "When frogs Collide" and "When Frogs Confide" a while back.
In terms of crit, I have to ask...why the line caps? It is retro and confusing, adds nothing to the quality of the piece and is more often than not a pseudo-poetic device.
The meter and form of the piece lends itself to the content in the same way that Comic font is good for Children's books...that is a compliment by the way.
"Their mouth..." is wrong. You know why.
The rhymes ARE forced but why not? You want it to rhyme to give it that "once upon a time/ nursery rhyme" feeling" Good.
Best,
tectak

Thank you for reading and your kind comments. I'll have to hop to it and read some of your "froggy" stuff
I know using line caps is frowned upon today, but I am getting on in age and it was de rigueur during my younger days. It's one of those things I sometimes do and sometimes don't
Now, the point of English, concerning "their mouth". Think of it as "All frogs have a wide mouth". Or "The species frog has a wide mouth". The example I remember from my school days is " The crowd was coming down the street".  That was the way I looked at it, perhaps wrongly?

[tectak]

The Madness of Frogs


Someone implied that frogs are mad,
But if that’s true I think it’s sad,
Although as far as I can see
It’s true they jump quite aimlessly.


So just between both you and me
I thought that I would try to see
Whether the claim is really true
That frogs just don’t know what they do.


I sat beside my garden pool
To find a frog I thought a fool.
Then one came out and smiled at me,
Their mouth is very wide you see.


“Are you mad?” I asked of him;
“Maybe perhaps a little dim?”
But he just sat and looked at me,
Regarded me quite silently.


I then recalled what Mum had said
And I bent down and kissed his head.
A puff of smoke, a flash of light,
A handsome prince was now in sight.


"Oh Sire" I said "if you don’t mind,
Indeed I ask you to be kind,
And speak to me quite openly
About your known insanity."


He scratched his head and thought a bit
And then he spoke these words of wit
“If you see me then I am glad;
It isn’t me, but you, that’s mad!”

Hi,
I cannot not like this as I ,too, passed through a frog stage with "When frogs Collide" and "When Frogs Confide" a while back.
In terms of crit, I have to ask...why the line caps? It is retro and confusing, adds nothing to the quality of the piece and is more often than not a pseudo-poetic device.
The meter and form of the piece lends itself to the content in the same way that Comic font is good for Children's books...that is a compliment by the way.
"Their mouth..." is wrong. You know why.
The rhymes ARE forced but why not? You want it to rhyme to give it that "once upon a time/ nursery rhyme" feeling" Good.
Best,
tectak

Thank you for reading and your kind comments. I'll have to hop to it and read some of your "froggy" stuff
I know using line caps is frowned upon today, but I am getting on in age and it was de rigueur during my younger days. It's one of those things I sometimes do and sometimes don't
Now, the point of English, concerning "their mouth". Think of it as "All frogs have a wide mouth". Or "The species frog has a wide mouth". The example I remember from my school days is " The crowd was coming down the street".  That was the way I looked at it, perhaps wrongly?

Hello,
regarding "their mouth" In your contra-examples you are not relating to subject. The collective term "all" is as singular as, for example, "flock". So it is fine to say "All (frogs) have a wide mouth". You refer to "all". You cannot say, however, that "frogs have a wide mouth"...or rather, you can, but correctly "frogs have wide mouths". This is an old chestnut. To go backwards, it is "A flock"..no argument...so " A flock of sheep ran down the road" Yes? Or would you say "Sheeps ran down the road"? No. Thought not.
A small nit..who is complaining? Good egg.
Best,
tectak

[Julius]

Hi,
I cannot not like this as I ,too, passed through a frog stage with "When frogs Collide" and "When Frogs Confide" a while back.
In terms of crit, I have to ask...why the line caps? It is retro and confusing, adds nothing to the quality of the piece and is more often than not a pseudo-poetic device.
The meter and form of the piece lends itself to the content in the same way that Comic font is good for Children's books...that is a compliment by the way.
"Their mouth..." is wrong. You know why.
The rhymes ARE forced but why not? You want it to rhyme to give it that "once upon a time/ nursery rhyme" feeling" Good.
Best,
tectak

Thank you for reading and your kind comments. I'll have to hop to it and read some of your "froggy" stuff
I know using line caps is frowned upon today, but I am getting on in age and it was de rigueur during my younger days. It's one of those things I sometimes do and sometimes don't
Now, the point of English, concerning "their mouth". Think of it as "All frogs have a wide mouth". Or "The species frog has a wide mouth". The example I remember from my school days is " The crowd was coming down the street".  That was the way I looked at it, perhaps wrongly?

Hello,
regarding "their mouth" In your contra-examples you are not relating to subject. The collective term "all" is as singular as, for example, "flock". So it is fine to say "All (frogs) have a wide mouth". You refer to "all". You cannot say, however, that  "frogs  have a wide mouth"...or rather, you can, but correctly "frogs have wide mouths". This is an old chestnut. To go backwards, it is "A flock"..no argument...so " A flock of sheep ran down the road" Yes? Or would you say "Sheeps ran down the road"? No. Thought not.
A small nit..who is complaining? Good egg.
Best,
tectak

I did give quite a lot of thought about "their mouth" when I wrote the poem, but on reflection "their mouth" is rather debatable but "their mouths" cannot be misunderstood. When I do an edit I think "their mouths" will find its place
Thank you for the advice and support,

[actual_trash]

this was fun to read and has a nice pace to it. Your rhymes were all pretty common but I think that that's not really a problem with this sort of poem. Such a cool premise, I like your creativity a lot!

[Julius]

Thank you everyone. I'm glad there wasn't very much wrong with it. I have considered the suggestions and changed "mouth" to "mouths" and done away with using a capital letter at the start of each line. I hope it reads a bit smoother now